1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to digital content recording, and more particularly to sending content between client devices connected to a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As various technologies for recording content such as videos and music have become available, there have been many attempts to allow people to send content to their friends and others. One example of a system that allows users to access and provide audio content operates in an Internet environment and implements a directory file server. Here, various client devices are configured with software for interacting with an Internet server that maintains a directory of audio content that is stored on each of the so configured client devices that are online at any given time. A user of a client device may navigate to the server and search the directory for a desired piece of audio content, and be provided with a list of one or more other client devices that are currently online and that store the desired content on their hard drive or the like. The server may then broker a communication between the “seeking” client device and a “storing” client device wherein the desired content is downloaded from the latter to the former. In this arrangement, the users of the storing and seeking devices are typically unknown to each other, connected only by the commonality that one user has a piece of content that the other discovered from the server directory. Although the server brokers communications between the two clients, the above transaction between the client devices is often referred to as an example of peer-to-peer communication.
One problem with this type of system is that a user must generally search a directory in order to obtain content. The reliability and quality of the content remain generally unknown, and the source of the content typically remains anonymous to the receiving party. The receiving party may typically rely upon a trial and error system of repeatedly downloading a targeted piece of content and examining its quality. Finally, some directory file server based systems allow unfettered copying of content among anonymous parties, which may be undesirable. Accordingly, the directory file server based system for obtaining content remains undesirable in many aspects.
Another problem with existing content sending systems is that they may be too complicated and cumbersome for novice users to operate. Particularly, users may be required to navigate to a previously unknown location to determine whether content is available, and when content is finally discovered the user may be required to invoke various software to capture the content.
Furthermore, particularly in the Internet environment, dynamic network addressing and local area network firewalls present significant obstacles to providing seamless connections between client devices, particularly where direct file transfers between client devices are desired.
What is needed is a more robust system for allowing users to avail content that they believe is desirable to others. Further needed is a system that is more user friendly, that allows recipients of content to very easily access the content, that allows two known client devices to directly engage in a content transfer, even where dynamic addressing schemes are present, and that overcomes some of the network based obstacles found in existing infrastructures.